A great way to see a large part of the city is to take the Walking Tour of Georgian Dublin, which takes the visitor through a large part of 18th-century Dublin. This is an independent walking tour, which you can make at any time and in your own time.
Walking Tour of Georgian Dublin
Start:
The Grand Canal at Baggot St
Finish:
St. Stephen's Green
Time:
Allow 2 hours not including interior visits.
This walk concentrates on many of Dublin's loveliest 18th-century streets, squares, and landmarks, many of which provide an attractive setting for the city's cultural and literary attractions. Start your walk at Baggot Street, by the:
Grand Canal
Built in the 18th century to connect Dublin to the Shannon River and the Irish midlands, this is a major example of engineering skills of the period. The towpath on either side of the canal has a rustic character, with terraces od small brick houses, wildfowl and swans on the water, and a series of curved 18th-century bridges. At:
Baggot Street Bridge
Stroll northwest up Baggot Street, which is so named because it is where Baggotrath Castle stood until the early 19th-century. Continue up:
Lower Baggot Street
and you will see perfect specimens of Georgian doorways and homes, turn left onto Upper Fitzwilliam Street and stroll around:
Fitzwilliam Square
was built in the 1820s. It was the last and smallest of the great Georgian squares to be developed, and its park is the only one of it's kind to remain private, for the use of square residents.
Number Twenty-Nine
is located at 29 Lower Fitzwilliam Street on the corner of Upper Mount Street. This museum re-creates what a Georgian house looked like. On the other side of Upper Mount Street is:
St. Stephen's Church
Also knows as the “Peppercanister Church” because of it's dome's appearance. Across the street is the east side of:
Merrion Square
Laid out in the 1760's and open to the public this is considered the core of the best preserved section of Georgian Dublin, it is the3 setting for many historic and well-tended town houses. Over the years, many were the residences of Dublin's leading citizens. Walk around the square and you will find plaques commemorating former residents such as Daniel O'Connell (no. 50); William Butler Yeats (no. 82); George Russell (no. 84); and Oscar Wilde and his parents (no.1). If you come during the summer months you will most likely see many artists selling their paintings along the railings outside the park, as pictured here. On the west side of Merrion Square are several importing buildings starting with:
The National Gallery of Ireland
This purpose-built gallery was opened to the public in 1864. It houses many excellent exhibits, with more than 2,000 works on display. Although there is much emphasis on Irish Landscape art and portraits, every major school of European painting is well represented. Opening Hours: Monday - Wednesday, Friday & Saturday 10am-5:30pm, Thursday 10am-8:30pm, Sunday 2-5pm. Admission: Free.
Next is:
Leinster House – Dáil Éireann - Irish Parliament
This is the back of Dáil Éireann, the fron being on Kildare St. Originally built for the Duke of Leinster in 1745, the building's Kildare Street façade resembles that of a large town house. Bought by the Royal Dublin Society in 1815. The government obtained it in 1922 for parliamentary use and bought the entire building two years later. Visitors can arrange to tour the main rooms, including the Seanad chamber, and can sit in the public gallery in the Dáil. Location: Kildare Street. Admission: Free. Telephone: (01) 678 9911
To the left is:
Natural History Museum
This museum is crammed with antique glass cabinets containing stuffed animals from around the world. The Irish room on the ground floor holds exhibits on Irish wildlife. Inside the front door are three huge skeletons of the extinct giant deer, better known as the "Irish elk". Also on this floor are shelves stacked with jars of bizarre creatures such as octopuses, leeches and worms preserved in embalming fluid. Location: Merrion Square West, beside the National Gallery. Opening hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 2-5pm. Admission: Free. Telephone: (01) 677 7444 Fax: (01) 677 7828
This street leads to the north side of:
St. Stephen's Green
St. Stephen's Green was enclosed in 1664. The 9 hectare (22 acre) park was laid out in its present form in 1880. Landscaped with flowerbeds, trees, a fountain and a lake, the green is dotted with memorials to eminent Dubliners. The 1887 bandstand is still the focal point for free daytime concerts in summer. Opening hours: Daylight hours.
Along the Green is one of Dublin's landmarks:
The Shelbourne Hotel (Le Meridien)
This is one of Dublin's finest hotels, which dates back to 1824.
The Spire of Dublin is officially titled the Monument of Light. It is a large, stainless steel, pin-like monument 121.2 metres (398 ft) in height, located on the site of the former Nelson's Pillar on O'Connell Street in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. the Spire was completed in 2003 and cost e4,000,000 to build. The Architect, Ian Richie, got several awards for its design.
The Spire looking towards the Liffey
The Spire was Designed by Ian Ritchie Architects, who sought an "Elegant and dynamic simplicity bridging art and technology". The first section of the Spire was installed on 18 December 2002. Five additional 20m sections were added with the last one installed on 21 January 2003. The spire is an elongated cone of diameter 3 m (9.8 ft) at the base, narrowing to 15 cm (5.9 in) at the top. Construction of the world's tallest sculpture was delayed because of difficulty in obtaining planning permission and environmental regulations. It is constructed from eight hollow tubes of stainless steel and contains a special internal 'damper', designed by engineers, to counteract sway. The steel underwent a procedure called shot peening in order to subtly reflect the light falling on it. The metal changes colours due to its reflective properties.
During the day it maintains its steel look, but at dusk the monument appears to merge into the sky. The base of the monument is lit and the top 12 m (39 ft) is illuminated to provide a beacon in the night sky across the city.
Reason for construction
Nelson's Pillar stood on the site of the Spire until it was destroyed by a bomb in 1966. The monument was commissioned as part of a redesigned street layout in 1999. O'Connell Street was perceived to have gone into decline from the 1970s. Some people blamed the appearance of fast food restaurants and the opening of bargain basement shops - all using cheap plastic shop fronts-visually unattractive and obtrusive, the existence of a number of derelict sites, and the 1966 destruction of Nelson's Pillar in a bombing by former IRA members, as reasons for the decline in a once famous and attractive street.
In the 1990s, plans were launched to improve the streetscape. The excessive number of trees in the central reservation, which had overgrown and obscured the street's views and monuments, was reduceddramatically. This was controversial, as the trees had been growing for a century. Statues were cleaned and in some cases relocated. Shop-owners were required to replace plastic signage and frontage with more visually attractive designs. Private car traffic was re-directed where possible away from the street, with its number of traffic lanes reduced, to allow more 'public ownership' of the street for pedestrians. The centrepiece of this regeneration was to be a replacement monument for Nelson's Pillar, the Spire of Dublin was chosen through an international competition.from a large number of submissions.
Dublin Monuments
A great way to see a large part of the city is to take the Walking Tour of Georgian Dublin, which takes the visitor through a large part of 18th-century Dublin. This is an independent walking tour, which you can make at any time and in your own time.
Walking Tour of Georgian Dublin
Built in the 18th century to connect Dublin to the Shannon River and the Irish midlands, this is a major example of engineering skills of the period. The towpath on either side of the canal has a rustic character, with terraces od small brick houses, wildfowl and swans on the water, and a series of curved 18th-century bridges. At:
Stroll northwest up Baggot Street, which is so named because it is where Baggotrath Castle stood until the early 19th-century. Continue up:
and you will see perfect specimens of Georgian doorways and homes, turn left onto Upper Fitzwilliam Street and stroll around:
was built in the 1820s. It was the last and smallest of the great Georgian squares to be developed, and its park is the only one of it's kind to remain private, for the use of square residents.
is located at 29 Lower Fitzwilliam Street on the corner of Upper Mount Street. This museum re-creates what a Georgian house looked like. On the other side of Upper Mount Street is:
Also knows as the “Peppercanister Church” because of it's dome's appearance. Across the street is the east side of:
Laid out in the 1760's and open to the public this is considered the core of the best preserved section of Georgian Dublin, it is the3 setting for many historic and well-tended town houses. Over the years, many were the residences of Dublin's leading citizens. Walk around the square and you will find plaques commemorating former residents such as Daniel O'Connell (no. 50); William Butler Yeats (no. 82); George Russell (no. 84); and Oscar Wilde and his parents (no.1). If you come during the summer months you will most likely see many artists selling their paintings along the railings outside the park, as pictured here. On the west side of Merrion Square are several importing buildings starting with:
This purpose-built gallery was opened to the public in 1864. It houses many excellent exhibits, with more than 2,000 works on display. Although there is much emphasis on Irish Landscape art and portraits, every major school of European painting is well represented.
Opening Hours: Monday - Wednesday, Friday & Saturday 10am-5:30pm, Thursday 10am-8:30pm, Sunday 2-5pm.
Admission: Free.
Next is:
This is the back of Dáil Éireann, the fron being on Kildare St. Originally built for the Duke of Leinster in 1745, the building's Kildare Street façade resembles that of a large town house. Bought by the Royal Dublin Society in 1815. The government obtained it in 1922 for parliamentary use and bought the entire building two years later. Visitors can arrange to tour the main rooms, including the Seanad chamber, and can sit in the public gallery in the Dáil.
Location: Kildare Street.
Admission: Free.
Telephone: (01) 678 9911
To the left is:
This museum is crammed with antique glass cabinets containing stuffed animals from around the world. The Irish room on the ground floor holds exhibits on Irish wildlife. Inside the front door are three huge skeletons of the extinct giant deer, better known as the "Irish elk". Also on this floor are shelves stacked with jars of bizarre creatures such as octopuses, leeches and worms preserved in embalming fluid.
Location: Merrion Square West, beside the National Gallery.
Opening hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 2-5pm.
Admission: Free.
Telephone: (01) 677 7444
Fax: (01) 677 7828
This street leads to the north side of:
St. Stephen's Green was enclosed in 1664. The 9 hectare (22 acre) park was laid out in its present form in 1880. Landscaped with flowerbeds, trees, a fountain and a lake, the green is dotted with memorials to eminent Dubliners. The 1887 bandstand is still the focal point for free daytime concerts in summer.
Opening hours: Daylight hours.
Along the Green is one of Dublin's landmarks:
This is one of Dublin's finest hotels, which dates back to 1824.
Source: http://www.dublintourist.com/walks_around_dublin/the_georgian_district.shtml accessed on 27/03/2011
Spire of Dublin
The Spire of Dublin is officially titled the Monument of Light. It is a large, stainless steel, pin-like monument 121.2 metres (398 ft) in height, located on the site of the former Nelson's Pillar on O'Connell Street in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. the Spire was completed in 2003 and cost e4,000,000 to build. The Architect, Ian Richie, got several awards for its design.
The Spire looking towards the Liffey
The Spire was Designed by Ian Ritchie Architects, who sought an "Elegant and dynamic simplicity bridging art and technology". The first section of the Spire was installed on 18 December 2002. Five additional 20m sections were added with the last one installed on 21 January 2003. The spire is an elongated cone of diameter 3 m (9.8 ft) at the base, narrowing to 15 cm (5.9 in) at the top. Construction of the world's tallest sculpture was delayed because of difficulty in obtaining planning permission and environmental regulations. It is constructed from eight hollow tubes of stainless steel and contains a special internal 'damper', designed by engineers, to counteract sway. The steel underwent a procedure called shot peening in order to subtly reflect the light falling on it. The metal changes colours due to its reflective properties.
During the day it maintains its steel look, but at dusk the monument appears to merge into the sky. The base of the monument is lit and the top 12 m (39 ft) is illuminated to provide a beacon in the night sky across the city.
Reason for construction
Nelson's Pillar
In the 1990s, plans were launched to improve the streetscape. The excessive number of trees in the central reservation, which had overgrown and obscured the street's views and monuments, was reduceddramatically. This was controversial, as the trees had been growing for a century. Statues were cleaned and in some cases relocated. Shop-owners were required to replace plastic signage and frontage with more visually attractive designs. Private car traffic was re-directed where possible away from the street, with its number of traffic lanes reduced, to allow more 'public ownership' of the street for pedestrians. The centrepiece of this regeneration was to be a replacement monument for Nelson's Pillar, the Spire of Dublin was chosen through an international competition.from a large number of submissions.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spire_of_Dublin accessed on April 15th 2011